This book is in two parts. Part 1, Lost and Found tells us that people rarely care about something somebody else has lost. Perhaps that's harsh but that is what Jesus was faced with. Had God lost a comparatively worthless creature? Had He lost a trinket? Or had He lost the occupant of His heart? The Bible doesn't quite put it like that, but the idea is not far wrong. So, what does God do to find what He has lost? Jesus taught that God acts with urgency. He acts with thoroughness. And He acts with love. This study is about Jesus teaching people, who do not know that they are lost, that God is looking for them. And Jesus teaches them the extraordinary pain and joy of God's heart.
Part 2, The Living water, reminds us that we must never forget that a desert has no water unless you come to an oasis. Some of the vast deserts in the world are very, very dangerous places. You dare not neglect or by-pass an oasis. That would mean almost certain death. These studies indicate one more thing – there can be fruit trees, perhaps date palms, in an oasis! In slightly different imagery, Jesus taught these lessons of water ‒ when dying of thirst, and water to produce wonderful fruit bearing trees. The eternal supply of this water is the Holy Spirit of God.